The Da Vinci Code wasn’t a sequel, but it sure played like one. Code brought in the kind of bucks ($77.1 million domestically and $230 million worldwide) usually reserved for movies with 2 or 3 in the title — all the more impressive considering critics and Christians tried to warn audiences away. ”Some people love it, some people don’t love it, some people are mixed on it,” says Code screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. ”It’s the same feeling people had about the book.” The big opening bodes well for Code prequel Angels & Demons (in which Da Vinci hero Robert Langdon snoops around the Vatican), so maybe Tom Hanks shouldn’t cut his hair just yet. Sony confirms the film is in development, and while no director or lead actor is yet attached, Da Vinci producers Brian Grazer and John Calley are overseeing it and Goldsman will pen the script. (Hanks’ rep says the actor ”is not involved and has not been contacted.”) ”This establishes an amazing starting point for the Robert Langdon character,” says Sony Pictures Releasing president Rory Bruer. But just to be safe, they might want to call the next one The Da Vinci Code 2.

(Additional reporting by Gregory Kirschling)

”Some people love it, some don’t. It’s the same feeling people had about the book.” ?Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman